Key events
25th March 2008
5th January 2007
25th October 2006
19th September 2006
This is how Bully would look in HD
Student recreates the set of Rockstar's classic.
Rockstar's mischievous scholastic satire Bully (or Canis Canem Edit, as it was originally called upon its European release) came out in 2006 and many have clamoured for a remake to it. It's unclear if that will ever happen, but graphic design student Wesley Arthur has given us some idea of how that might look by painstakingly recreating its boy's dormitory in Unreal Engine 4.
New Bully trademark filed by Take-Two
Back to school already?
Bully - aka Canis Canem Edit in Europe - could be seeing a sequel as publisher Take-Two has filed a new trademark for the 2006 open-school cult classic.
Knytt and Oddworld lead the PS Store charge
Festive sale not live yet but coming soon.
PC indie game Knytt arrives on PS3 and Vita (cross-buy) today in the shape of Knytt Underground. I've no idea what it is or how to pronounce it but Jeffrey thought it worth writing about. Costs £10.
It "might come back in the future".
Rockstar loves Bully, and has revealed it may return to it for a sequel once Max Payne 3 is released.
"Coming soon", apparently.
Rockstar is planning to release a PC version of hit console title Bully.
New Bully 360 patch creating problems?
Best avoid, says Internet.
Rockstar has released a patch for the troubled Xbox 360 version of Bully: Scholarship Edition, but electronic word on the Internet street is that it's causing more problems - perhaps even more than it fixes.
The patch went Live on Thursday, but soon after that posters on Major Nelson's blog were accusing it of causing "terrible amounts" of trouble.
Among the problems reported are more game freezes, "choppy" audio and graphical glitches.
Rockstar "horrified" by Bully bugs
Working on a fix right now.
Rockstar has responded to reports of problems with the Xbox 360 version of Bully Scholarship Edition.
Apologises to Take-Two.
Having previously suggested a Bully sequel was highly unlikely due to poor sales, analyst Michael Pachter is now saying that a second game is a distinct possibility.
Reckons sales were a bit crap.
Analyst Michael Pachter has said that he doubts Rockstar will bother doing a sequel to Canis Canem Edit, despite all the critical acclaim.
Speaking to GamePolitics, Pachter, who represents Wedbush Morgan Securities, painted a picture of a game that will sell just about enough units worldwide to break even - the suggestion being that Rockstar and parent company Take-Two won't be happy with the results.
Pachter said that following US sales which "trailed off pretty dramatically in November," he'd estimate around 800,000 units will be sold during the game's life-time. "My guess is that the company did no better than to break even. I would NOT expect a sequel," he said.
Says violence was balanced.
A senior examiner for the British Board of Film Classification has defended the organisation's decision to award Canis Canem Edit a 15 certificate.
Bully for Rockstar.
Once again, they've let me down. Honestly. I mean, I've played about eight Rockstar games now, and I'm still not a highly trained professional killer. Am I playing them wrong or something?
Oh well, let's talk about what Bully, or Canis Canem Edit, actually is.
Bully tells the story of a young chap called Jimmy Hopkins, whose dysfunctional family dumps him on the doorstep of the even more dysfunctional Bullworth Academy, where he's supposed to receive an education, but ultimately ends up fighting to unite all the rival groups of miscreants and carve out a relatively sane niche for himself, while the teachers get drunk, fornicate and generally worry about themselves.
We look at Canis Canem Edit's music, and chat to maestro Shawn Lee.
Peculiarly, perhaps, for a company called Rockstar, we don't generally associate the publisher's games with amazing and original music. Grand Theft Auto, its most successful series, has a few radio jingles and began life with music produced in-house, but since then has given this over to a flourishing licensing department whose endeavours have been compiled into huge soundtrack sets - the latest, San Andreas, featuring eight CDs of music. For Canis Canem Edit (née Bully), however, the company found it necessary to approach from a different perspective, as Rockstar soundtrack supervisor Ivan Pavlovich told Eurogamer ahead of the game's release.
Extensive hands-on with what looks like Rockstar's best game since GTA.
At the risk of plagiarising John's excellent review of Pathologic... Actually, where's the risk in plagiarising John? I can simply poke him in the stomach! Prod. So: "Living city". It's a misnomer, for the most part. The city only ever lives when you start changing it. If you don't start, it never will.
Bullying its way onto EGTV.
Bullworth Academy Principal Crabblesnitch welcomes you to Rockstar's Canis Canem Edit in a new trailer for the game once known as Bully.
Showing now on Eurogamer TV, the trailer demonstrates yet more of the pranks and pitfalls of education while Crabblesnitch extols its virtues to the sound of twinkling music.
The full game's due out on PS2 next month, and sees players take on the role of young Jimmy Hopkins, after he's dumped at the school by his parents and forced to carve out a place amongst bullies, nerds and jocks - in between attending classes to learn new skills. Like how to make cherry bombs.
Sorry - Canis Canem Edit.
The game formerly known as Bully will be released on October 27th in Europe, Rockstar told Eurogamer this afternoon.
Rockstar takes us to school.
Bullying takes many forms. I've experienced lots myself. Name-calling was pretty bad. And having things flicked at me - especially those revolting spit balls. It persists throughout life, so you grow a thick skin. Which helps when, say, you're caught making a fairly innocuous piece of software by a gang of influential loudmouths who then band together and slag you off without bothering to see what it's like first.
But will it silence the critics?
Rockstar has told Eurogamer that controversial PS2 title Bully is getting a name change.
Watch them in action.
As the controversy over forthcoming Rockstar title Bully continues, footage of a group of anti-bullying campaigners protesting outside Take-Two's Manhattan offices has appeared online.
Australia approves Bully for sale
Not so violent after all then?
Australia's Office of Film and Literature Classification has awarded forthcoming Rockstar title Bully an 'M' rating, suggesting that the game might not be all that violent after all.
Bully to hit Europe in Oct too
First trailer available.
Rockstar has confirmed that Bully's October release date applies to Europe as well - and released a trailer for the game.
BBFC says it's still unrated.
Rockstar's boringly controversial console title Bully is due for release in October, CNN/Money reports.
Out later this year.
Rockstar Games has confirmed that Bully - subject of much controversy - is still set for release in 2006.
MP criticises Rockstar's Bully
Asks Tony to consider ban.
Following a record dry spell during which no Rockstar games were the subject of any controversy for approximately 18 minutes, Labour MP Keith Vaz has hauled Bully into the spotlight for its representation of violence against schoolchildren.
Child welfare groups slam Rockstar for bullying game
'No worse than Just William,' yet Rockstar expects adult rating.
Various anti-bullying organisations have spoken out against Rockstar Games after learning that it plans to make schoolyard bullying the subject of a humorous action game for PS2 and Xbox.
And a few more details.
Rockstar has released the first screenshot from Bully, its forthcoming third-person action adventure game for PS2 and Xbox.
